P e n ta s y l l a biC Sh i P oe t ry : t He “ni ne t e e n ol D P oe m s ” 109
they all stink, rot, disintegrate, and disappear. This is where they are the same.... The man of virtue and the sage die; the wicked and the stupid also die. In
life they were Yao and Shun [sage-emperors]; in death they are rotten bones. In
life they were Jie and Zhou [wicked kings]; in death they are rotten bones. Thus
they all became rotten bones just the same. Who knows their difference? Let us
enjoy our present life. Why should we worry about what comes after death?”2
Yang Zhu elucidates three points central to his hedonist philosophy:
1. Death is the final end for the existence of an individual.- Man cannot overcome death—that is, the destruction of his physical form—
with something extraneous to his body such as fame and glory. - Given the preceding two points, man must enjoy the present and forget
about death.
Yang Zhu’s argument appears to underlie the entire reflective process in poem 13.
Although Yang Zhu’s hedonist ideas echo in many Han yuefu works, they are never
so fully expressed as in poem 13 and other similar pieces. The preponderance of
hedonist ideas is therefore widely seen as another important thematic feature of
the “Nineteen Old Poems.”
P o e t iC m o D e : F r o m t h e n a r r a t i v e t o t h e ly r iC a lThe authors of the “Nineteen Old Poems” adopted a mode of presentation mark-
edly different from that used by yuefu composers. While yuefu composers tended
to express themselves through storytelling, they limited the narrative elements to
a bare outline while filling in with abundant emotional expressions. To see this re-
versed balance of narrative and lyrical elements, let us compare three of the “Nine-
teen Old Poems” with “Watering Horses at the Grotto near the Great Wall (here-
after, “Watering Horses”), a well-known yuefu composition attributed by some to
Cai Yong (132–192).
C 5. 4
No. 6, I Cross the River to Pluck Hibiscus FlowersI cross the river to pluck hibiscus flowers, 涉江采芙蓉 (shè jiāng căi fú róng)
2 In the orchid swamps grow many fragrant
herbs. 蘭澤多芳草 (lán zé duō fāng căo)
I gather them, but whom shall I send
them to? 采之欲遺誰 (căi zhī yù wèi shéi)
4 The person in my thought lives far away. 所思在遠道 (suŏ sī zài yuăn dào)
I turn and look toward my home village, 還顧望舊鄕 (huán gù wàng jiù xiāng)
6 The long road stretches off into the distance. 長路漫浩浩 (cháng lù màn hào hào)
We are of the same heart, but live separately, 同心而離居 (tóng xīn ér lí jū)
8 This sorrow will always be ours until the end
of our days! 憂傷以終老 (yōu shāng yĭ zhōng lăo)
[WX 29.1345]